Smart purifier tells you what's in the air

With certain exceptions, air purifiers aren't especially smart or powerful. They'll remove some of the nastiness, but it's anyone's guess as to how much there actually is. Sprimo thinks it can change that: it's crowdfunding a purifier that's not only more effective than conventional rivals (reportedly up to 50 times more efficient), but designed from the ground up with intelligence in mind. It'll tell you the basic contents of the air and give you a quality rating to give you a sense how clean that air really is. The device will also give you a sense of what filters to use (say, one geared towards pollen) and tell you when you're likely to need a replacement.

The company itself will even help out on occasion. You can send in your old filters for recycling, and there's an option to have Sprimo analyze filters to determine exactly what they've caught. If there's an infestation, you might find out before you see a bug scurrying across the floor.

This isn't a trivial expense. You're looking at a minimum $319 pledge (normally $369) to get a purifier, and it'll cost you another $59 for a spare filter. The finished product also won't arrive until February 2017 at the earliest, assuming the project meets its goal. Nonetheless, it could be a small price to pay if you're either sensitive to air conditions (say, due to allergies) or live in a polluted area where clean skies are a relative rarity.